"Baby-short Korea unveils slew of incentives."

The Straits Times brought us an article a few days ago on incentives offered parents to help reverse Korea's declining birth rate, which now is ranked as the lowest in the world, according to some sources.

Visit this East-West Center article from a little while ago for more reactions to declining birth rates in Asian nations. An excerpt:

[East-West Center senior fellow] Choe notes that, according to survey data, “preferred family size expressed as (an) ideal number of children or intended number of children has changed little since 1980,” decreasing only slightly from 2.1 to 1.9. But, she points out, “the view that ‘it is necessary to have children’ has declined substantially.” A trend, Choe believes, “suggests that (an) increasing proportion of women will be evaluating costs and benefits of having children vis-à-vis other options in life such as having more time for employment and other non-familial activities.”

And perhaps, according to Choe, that is because “young men and women in their early thirties … grew up during the period when South Korea experienced its most rapid economic growth. It is likely they have formed a taste for a high level of consumption and high expectations of social and economic advances in their adult life.” Now experiencing slower economic growth and higher unemployment rates, many of those same young people as they become of marriage age may be taking pause. She notes, “The new and prospective parents are likely to have benefited from a high level of education,” and an improved standard of living, “and want to provide their children” similar advantages. Something they may not be able to do.

The Korean government is aware of the growing birth rate decline problem and has advanced numerous policies in the past few years to attempt a solution, including improved maternity leave, childcare subsidies, and baby bonuses. But, Choe says, “These measures may have some effect” on couples merely postponing childbearing, but they “are likely to be short lived at best.” She adds, for a sustained reversal in the falling birth rate, “More long-range policies on improving economic conditions of the young adults, reducing the cost of children’s education, and supporting egalitarian gender roles need to be established and implemented.”

The Marmot's Hole had a post a couple of years ago with some links to figures and editorials on the population crisis. The fuss over declining birth-rates seems ironic considering this is a part of the world that attracts Western attention to its crowded cities, bloated populations, and increasingly voracious appetites. I'd rather see creative solutions employed to deal with potential economic problems and with an aging population, rather than just irresponsibly dumping more people out onto the world. Hasn't worked too well for Africa or American high schools, has it?